When You're Going Through Hell,Keep Moving!

Winston Churchill said that...it is on my fridge and it helped as the farming business has grown so quickly and for all intensive purposes been successful. Why? Been thinking about that and while on vacation, not vacationing, at least in my definition, I have some thoughts to share:

1. The environmnet/demand: People want REAL food. They want to trust that what is going into their mouths has the stuff they need and none of the stuff they don't. We are not stupid people here on the West Coast and we don't believe nor trust everything we hear. We investigate and make better choices. As an example, here is a link to a blog that says High Fructose Corn Syrup is good for you or at least not worse than real surgar http://www.corn.org/HFCSfacts.htm. Interesting article in that it lists all the things HFCS is in that sugar wouldn't be in and that is the big rub. We didn't know it was in so much and those calories were not expected. We didn't know that HFCS inhibits Leptin, a hormone that tells you your full. The article says no "credible source" says it does anything bad. The article is written by the Corn Refiners Association and evidently written for a 5th grad level reader.
You make a decision.

2. People: if you build it they will come. People to carry out the work. People with passion. And energy and ideas. It has been such a pleasure to work with the team here eager to learn and produce (which means mistakes but I have counted on you, my more mature client to understand and know you are always right when it comes to our mistakes).

3. Knowing how to run a business. That helps, a lot. Wearing the 3 hats of Entreprenuer, Manager and Tech expert has been exhausting but I have the best in class around me to take up the load a bit at a time (and of course Craig who is the genius). Knowing when to add expenses and being willing to live inside the business, literally, with no privacy because building a house would be a huge distraction (and I haven't gotten over the permit fee of $90K to begin OMG).

4. Finally it is the day to day events that make it worth while and here are some:

One of the little goats broke a leg (she got it stuck in a fence) so I found myself holding her in my arms while we put 6 chop sticks for support held by bandage tape around the leg....

Baby owls, did you know that parent owls will swallow a rodent whole, it digest the meat and regurgitates it to feed the baby owl. The rest it poops out in an slighty furry oblong object. If you break it open you will find the bones, quite intact. Amazing.

Pigs, I love the pigs. The babies, all 23 of them are like a herd of water buffalo roaming around the farm as they get the urge...you can hear them coming. They move together like a flock of birds and if you chase them they haul it back to the big herd....unless you have ice cream (which is why I think they are maurading in the first place given they avoid the garden...what child would do differently?). The larger pigs are just the most peaceful, pleasant crowd. They love the mud wallows when it is hot, covered for sun protection they can get itchy as the mud dries so there is an ongong need for scratching and we are human poles for such. The occasional runt that lives in the front yard...Emily being the first. She was loved by many a child and had 4 good months before she went to sleep one night for good (runts do that).

Pesky calves, they are so curious, love to run around a night and have been found at our porch dinner table...munching salad greens...that was interesting.

And laslty the turkeys...all enbolden by their lineage (decendants of velociraptors) they put out their little chests as male 2 week old, telling the world they are here to dominate the kingdom, even in the little one they have. Now out on pasture the Turkeys are like teenagers, digging for bugs, making tunnels (not sure where they are going).

The stories and education are fascinating to me and I hope you also. I promise to write once a week to keep you informed on our progress and thanks for reading!